Iben Sennew Teyet
by llivla
Summary: Our Imagined Second Look: Let’s try this again. Those two do something they REALLY shouldn’t and Yuugi suffers postCeremonial Battle. And now reality, whatever that means, settles in. AEnding take off.


Ib-en Sennew Teyet

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Summary: Our Imagined Second Look: Let's try this again. Those two do something they REALLY shouldn't and Yuugi suffers post-Ceremonial Battle. And now, reality (whatever that means) settles in. AEnding take off.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. Or something like what I favorite on this site would happen. Only better cos then it would be canon…Mmmm… If only Takahashi could be bribed. Or tortured. Really, I'm not picky. 

A/N: I suffer under a welcome delusion that Lediz's name for Yuugi's mother, Omocha, is canon.

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_It's not meant to be like this,  
__not what I planned at all  
__It's not meant to be like this,  
this is just what I don't need  
__Why do you make me feel like this!  
__It's definitely all your fault.  
_-- Imogen Heap

* * *

Groaning, Yuugi placed a hand to his forehead. 'Where am I?' he wondered. He felt his hand grasp a sheet that didn't have Kuribos, and a pillow under his head that lacked years of abuse. Opening his eyes, he discovered that he was in a bed. 

Then it all came back and smacked his head like a ton of bricks: the gold-woven sheet beneath his clenching hands, the alabaster, gold, and jewels in front of his eyes as powerful as the hammering of his heart. He attempted to sit up as slowly as he could, so as not to disturb reclining on the window ledge the dark spirit … that really wasn't anymore. But even from across the room from Atem seemed to be on alert for the slightest movement, and opened his eyes as Yuugi sat up stiffly.

Atem was never one to express facially; so it didn't bother Yuugi much that he stared in his poker-faced way while Yuugi struggled to control his hyperventilation. Again. "You're back." Yuugi said finally, heart rate back down to a comfortable notch below cardiac arrest. Neither worried about it. A heart attack couldn't do anything to him anymore.

Atem leaned back once he concluded Yuugi's (relative) emotional stability and closed his eyes. "Yes."

"Er, when?" Yuugi stood up from the bed, legs a bit wobbly.

"Some time ago. You were still asleep. Just as when I left. I didn't want to wake you."

"I seem to be sleeping a lot," Yuugi said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, and Atem watched with his omnipresent intensity. "It's only natural," the other murmured, and Yuugi blinked. "You're bod—soul—is adjusting to…" He broke off, and it was because, Yuugi understood insanely, whatever was behind the other's eyelids _was_ absolutely fascinating and direly important and, well, …Yuugi fidgeted.

"They're," he began timidly, "They're not happy with you are they?"

Atem allowed a quiet smirk from his resting place. "An understatement."

Yuugi kept the distance, looked out the balcony from the corner of his eyes. It was silent for a while. Yuugi didn't like it too much because it made him think and Atem was right, he thought way too much for it to be healthy and it only damaged his attempts to keep it light, "OH GOD, I don't remember it being this hot in the RPG," he moaned dramatically, smiling and giving a wink to show he was kidding as he stretched, "I'll _kill_ for an air conditioning unit."

The other laughed. "Ah, but then there's the question of where you'd plug it in, Partner." He folded his arms to his chest and grinned, "Believe me when I say I am ahead of you, though I was thinking more along the lines of that useful hairdryer." He watched Yuugi through half-lidded as he played with the luxurious cloth in his hands, allowing the sash to fall through his fingers like water. Yuugi was fascinated by everything here.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as Yuugi blinked and lifted his head up a degree to inhale through his nose once curiously. "Mn, is that…incense?" Atem gestured with his head once to a bronze piece behind Yuugi's left, where a candle burned inside. Yuugi smiled and walked over to lean over it, inhaling the sweet perfume. "My father's mother," he said absently, filling the silence that drove him insane so easily these days. "She was Catholic. Whenever I was dragged over there, which happened a lot growing up, we had to go to mass. I didn't like it, it was really boring and all in Latin; I remember once though it was a special celebratory day or something, and the priests went out churning incense like Febreeze." He stared down at it. "It's been one of my favorite scents ever since."

Atem's jaw tightened; he looked out to stare at the palace walls. He was listening to Yuugi, he always did—it would be unnatural to not always be fixated on him in some form…which was probably one of the problems with slash causes of their current 'situation.'

It was awkward, how the hell _could it not_ be? It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was not supposed to be like this, _Yuugi was not supposed to be here_; and Atem was furious and disgusted with himself for not feeling bad enough about it. He swallowed as something rose again that he didn't like. Must be his throat. "…" Fists tightened and nails dug into his palm to keep his expression schooled and neutral. Focus, Yuugi was talking and expected him to respond, to keep talking so they could stop thinking… stop remembering.

"Omocha was Catholic?" He managed out evenly. He found by grounding his fists into his lap he could transmit the anger there that would have otherwise gone into his voice.

Yuugi babbled on. "Mmm, yeah. Well, in a sense. She wasn't serious about it. She flipped around a lot but Catholicism was what she was originally raised with. She's done everything just about once really: Hindu, Jewish, some atheism… trying to 'find herself' or whatever they did in the seventies. Drove her parents insane and they threatened to disown her but she didn't listen. When she went Shinto for a spell, that was how she met my dad. At Temple. They were making wishes and she was bowing all enthusiastically at the wrong stuff and junk. He thought it was funny." He turned and saw the other watching him expectantly. "Er…," he said, rubbing his neck sheepishly, "the end."

He blinked, then chuckled and shook his head. Silly Partn—_Yuugi_ he corrected—could never fail to amuse him. Which was good, considering they were together for eternity, a nasty voice reminded him. As if it had to.

…He was going to break his back molars if he kept up this grinding…

Even from his reclusive position across the room he could see Yuugi fidget. "Then, uhm, mou hitori no boku?"

"Yes Partner?" The tension in the air could have been splintering ice. Honestly, conversation was the only thing from sending Yuugi running around screaming 'ohmygodohmygodohmygod' and him from blowing up things. It was why they went by the old names out loud. They could delude themselves that they were deluding the other, that Sugoroku just won the national lottery, Santa went all out for saving the world five times, or something.

Fidget poke fidget. "What is this here," he asked. "This place, where we are?" Fidget.

He shifted one sandaled knee up and the other to hover above the floor. How long could they keep dancing like this? "This is the waiting place." He replied, weighing the sentence carefully.

_Okie dokie_, Yuugi thought hysterically. "It feels more like a dream." He said calmly.

Atem reached another decision: outside was _fascinating_, sand was absolutely, all-consumingly fascinating. Establishing this new fact of life, Atem was able to calmly say "Yuugi." And the other jerked his head like an obedient marionette towards him. "I feel," Atem said, "And perhaps you too, when I explain. I feel that morning is close. And soon we will have to wake up from this dream, as you call it." Yuugi went back to fidgeting with his two pointer fingers, muttering what sounded oddly like "okie dokie" to the other's ears.

On his side, Yuugi wished he were a turtle. Yes, Yuugi was quite sure turtles never had these problems. And they had these cool houses they could hid into and act like rocks. Nobody bothered rocks. Fidget. He inhaled. Atem had been gone for a long time, before.

Fidget. "…They _really_ aren't happy with us."

It was amazing how the results of a fulfilled action of an incredibly spontaneous heart-wish could make Atem's stomach constrict so apprehensively in the moments after. He debated with himself about the merits in lying to Yuugi, and then decided he was too tired to decide which protected more. "It's a good thing we're already dead," was the only half-humorous reply he could 'comfort' Yuugi with through his tightened jaw.

Very good thing, Atem decided again: this physical distance between his ledge and Yuugi's standing fidgets, and these fists in his lap. He sure if he didn't have them he'd have made the mirror behind Yuugi showing him the two of them there, together, explode. After all, he _did_ just recently, technically, _kill _his Aibou.

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A/N: In a sense, this is a sequel to PI but not really...and it's bad anyway. I hate it. Probably because it isn't real. 


End file.
